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Thursday, September 24, 2009

A Different Kind of Hero - Leah Beth Evans

Summary: The rainforest is under attack. One monkey is determined to save it. His name is Tomagochi. He’s brown. He’s small. He’s plain. But when a group of men enters the rain forest armed with bulldozers and axes, Tomagochi the monkey springs into action to defend his natural habitat. While larger animals like Peshe the tiger run and hide, Tomagochi charges into battle. Will he be victorious? Will the rain forest be saved? Join Tomagochi as he fights to protect his home and discovers just how special he truly is. (summary from tribute books - image from barnesandnoble.com)

My review: This book starts out well enough. A little monkey living in the rain forest is uncertain of himself and just what makes him important and special. I think many of children (and adults) can relate to that. Then, mean men with their backhoes come and try to tear up his home. So what does the he do? (I'm going to actually SPOIL a book ON PURPOSE) The monkey goes ape. He attacks the equipment and he attacks the men and chases them away. At the end, the monkey is applauded by his friends for his stellar use of violence in solving his problems. I think I might have been okay if the monkey had stuck to sabotage instead of engaging in outright assault but I felt that this book sent the WRONG message(s): "Violence is a useful tool for problem solving" and "Join Your Local Eco terrorist Group Today."

And now -NOW-after I've written my review, I looked at a few others and found out that the author of this book is a 7th grader. I'm going to hell. I was tempted to take all this back and not post, but instead I decided to stand by my statement. It's great that she wrote this book and I'm proud of her for being able to get it published but I feel this book didn't quite send the message it was meant to.

1 comment:

I actually think that the fact it was written by a 7th grader redeems the book. As a parent you can now change the message to "children have the ability to write books and accomplish other great feats."